Towing Issues: illegal tow, tow truck driver, tow company

Question
I own a 24'uhaul truck and somebody named John called a Florence SC local tow company.  Without proof of ownership this company towed the uhaul to a local scrap yard. I have found the truck before crushed and filed police report.  The tow company even after saying it seemed fishy want to charge me to tow my truck back. Also the box was broken into and car parts stolen.  I will never get the money from the thief but what is the tow company liable for or my rights to sue and can I sue for more then tow?  This was on private property, no leans and mgmt did not authorize removal.

Answer
Well there are a bunch of people who are out for no good. It seems that you ran across one of the scams which is out there.  

In general the tow companies have been used as a pawn in this scam, and as such it might be hard to really hold them responsible.  I assume that they have not a lot of information about the person who called the tow company, or have arrested them.

There are some rules and laws which are for victims of crimes which might help you with this. I am not sure of SPECIFIC RULES for South Carolina, but it can not hurt to check into it.

Now if they have the person who did this in custody, they are facing criminal actions, and you are in your legal rights to go after them with civil actions.

But I am not a lawyer, just a tow truck driver so I am not sure what else can be done that way.

Now I am sure that the tow company is aware of the issue and might help you out with this issue and payment. But you might have to pay some fees, after all they did have expenses such as fuel and wages. You might try offering a partial payment to help with this issue.  

I hope this helps.